STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS
Let Pharisees of high esteem Love and charity, 1 Cor. 13. 2-7 13
Isaac Watts printed it in 1707 in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I, no. 133, under 1 Corinthians 13:2–7, 13.
WRITTEN BY
Isaac Watts 1674–1748
PRINTED
1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs · no. 133
METRE
Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas
WRITTEN ON
1 Corinthians 13:2–7, 13 the verse printed above it
The hymn, and the Scripture in it
All 6 stanzas as Watts printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.
SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes
AMONG THE SCRIPTURES
The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.
a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here
STANZA I
Let Pharisees of high esteem
Their faith and zeal declare,
All their religion is a dream
If love be wanting there.
No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.
Where Watts found it
Watts printed the hymn under 1 Corinthians 13:2–7, 13. The line that comes closest to it is marked.
2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:2–7, 13 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ 1 CORINTHIANS 13
Love suffers long with patient eye, Nor is provok'd in haste; She lets the present injury die, And long forgets the past. STANZA II
Its place in the book
Book I of the hymn book, “Collected from the Holy Scriptures”, holds these hymns in this order: 179 hymns. This is number 133. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.
NO. 133 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Let Pharisees of high esteem
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